Warm Welcome

— By Jeff Hungarter —

Videri Chocolate Factory: an LED lighting solution showcases a sweet spot.

 

When Roxanne Lundy began working at Videri Chocolate Factory in Raleigh, North Carolina, she was fresh out of college and the company was but 1 month old. Lundy has been a catalyst behind Videri’s growth from a small, 2-day-a-week operation into a handcrafted bean-to-bar emporium par excellence — far beyond her imagination.

Lundy has advanced from chocolate wrapper to retail manager to, today, general manager. She’s a designer by inclination and training, and she and Videri’s co-owners — husband-wife team Sam Ratto and Starr Sink — have, over these years of growth, nurtured a vision of the ideal chocolate factory. They have a strong sense of the impression they want to make on their guests.

A chocolate factory is a magical place, Lundy asserts. Beyond the fact that it smells amazing, “we want everyone to feel like they’ve walked into a warm and inviting space,” she says. Critical to creating that environment is showcasing Videri’s wares in the very best possible light.

Solution

The Videri team strives to arrive at, in Lundy’s words, “that Goldilocks sweet spot” in every cocoa bean. They were likewise intent on discovering the sweet spot in lighting solutions. Cree Lighting delivered.

Videri installed 20 Cree Lighting A19 Professional Series LED bulbs in the main part of the store. The A19 features a combination of comfortable omnidirectional light, high-color rendering, instant-on and quiet dimming.

“We wanted the café and the store to have a rustic feel,” Lundy explains, “because that’s the style of the building. At the same time, our brand is a little more modern, so we want that balance. I feel like the lighting keeps everything warm; it keeps the space rustic — but it just elevates things. It’s clean.”

At the core of Videri’s mission is a commitment to making ethical and environmentally sound decisions, and energy efficiency was a critical consideration in selecting a lighting solution.

“Our materials are compostable and we’re always sourcing fair trade and organic ingredients,” Lundy says. “From a sourcing standpoint, it’s important for us to bring products into our space that have a low impact and are environmentally friendly.”

The ENERGY STAR® certified A19 helps advance that commitment. The A19 is a highly efficient lamp, providing as much as 88% energy savings as compared with incandescent bulbs.

Videri also installed six C-Lite® LED Wrap lights in its production area, where the sharpness of the light is of utmost importance. The C-Lite LED is likewise engineered to deliver energy savings.

“I feel like the lighting keeps everything warm; it keeps the space rustic — but it just elevates things. It’s clean,” Lundy says.

Benefits

Lundy loves the feel of this Cree Lighting LED solution.

“You don’t realize that your space is dull until you add new bulbs and see what a difference it makes,” she says. The new lighting “brightened up the space. It made everything feel crisp and clean. And it made me happier to walk into that space.”

While improved lighting and energy efficiency were the primary considerations in selecting this Cree Lighting solution, the Videri team is also pleased to be realizing savings in both time and money.

Energy savings are anticipated to be about $600 a year, and, Lundy adds, “a product with such a long shelf life is great for us because the last thing that I need to be thinking about is pulling out ladders and making a day of changing light bulbs.”

“Just knowing that I don’t have to think about that for years down the road is a huge relief.”

Equally important, Lundy says, is working with a company you can trust. She’s assured that this solution is built to last, and that Cree Lighting stands behind it.

“You can have the best product in the world, but if you don’t have the service to back it up, then it doesn’t really mean anything,” Lundy attests. “Knowing that Cree Lighting has a 100% warranty…that’s huge. It speaks to the integrity of the product.”

 

 

 

 

— Jeff Hungarter is director, indoor products, for Cree Lighting, a company of IDEAL INDUSTRIES and a market-leading innovator of LED lighting fixtures, lamps and commercial lighting solutions for interior, exterior and intelligent lighting applications. For more information, visit www.creelighting.com.